England's bid unsuccessful but all is not lost

England have missed out on the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals with Fifa opting to award Russia the right to host the event for the first time.

It has been revealed that England’s bid received just two votes, those coming from its own bid team chairman Geoff Thompson and African Confederation president Issa Hayatou.

The result has been described by Prime Minister David Cameron as “bitterly disappointing” and felt there was not much England could have done to convince Fifa that theirs was the best bid.

“I think, according to Fifa, we had the best technical bid, the best commercial bid”, Cameron stated. “No-one could identify any risks coming to England. But it turns out that’s not enough.”

Had England been awarded the competition it would have been the first time since 1966 that football’s showpiece event had taken place on English soil. This set-back means that England’s next chance to be hosts will be 2030. However, with Fifa looking to open up the game to a more diverse audience, the 2022 finals being awarded to Qatar being a prime example, the likelihood of England securing that right looks more and more unlikely.

There is no doubting the heart break that will be felt by all involved in the ultimately unsuccessful bid for the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Disappoint can be felt by all football fans who were confident of securing the competition with what seemed such a confident bid.

England is ready to host a World Cup; no arguments can be made against that fact. We benefit from some of the best and most state of the art stadia in the world, one of the best safety records in Europe, if not the World, aligned with some of the most passionate football fans on the planet. However all this, along with one of the most profitable bids in history, appeared to be not enough to sway the decision of Sepp Blatter and his delegates.

To pin blame upon anyone seems unfair. Even if the finger is to point, which it will, at Andrew Jennings’ damning investigation into corruption within Fifa (aired in the Monday 29th edition of Panorama). In truth, the documentary didn’t reveal anything we, as educated football fans, didn’t already know.

Granted, perhaps the airing of that particular episode was ill timed it does however pose a number of questions. Why were the FA, parliament and even the Royal family so intent on securing the games, even if it meant getting into bed with numerace people in order to secure votes given the corrupt nature of Fifa? Shouldn’t the Football Association, parliament and the Royal Family be distancing itself from such opaque organisations? The football association and parliament appeared content to bend over backwards just to secure the finals. But to no avail.

If the England Team had secured the 2018 World Cup finals it would have made it the fifth international sporting competition held on these shores in the space of a decade. England is set to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the stadium looked near to completion in pictures that saw David Beckham and Lord Coe paying it a visit.

A year later England will welcome the rugby league world as it hosts the showpiece international tournament. Not for a second am I suggesting that the rugby league world cup has the same sort of prestige that goes with the Fifa World Cup finals but it is progress for the nation as we look to host more and more international competitions. The rather contrived structure of the tournament may blunt the regard that people hold it in but people must not doubt its importance, especially for the sport of rugby league.

Since 1999 the Rugby Football Union, have made frequent attempts to secure the rugby world cup, missing out marginally for the right to be hosts for 2007 tournament. In 2015, however, the Rugby Union World Cup will come to England and Wales, and who knows England might be defending a second crown.

At the very end of the decade we will see England host the Cricket World Cup. Both this tournament, set for 2019, and the rugby world cup mentioned previously will come on the back of Australia and New Zealand being hosts four years previous, both instances will be hard acts to follow there is no doubt. Where games will be held is too hard to speculate nine years down the line but with the regeneration of grounds such as the Rose Bowl, Hampshire, and Chester-le-Street, Durham, others will need to follow suit making for exciting developments to county grounds all over the country. Not only this, but we may see new nations taking part as the cricket world sees the game developing in more and more countries.

To have worked so hard in attempting to gain the right to host the 2018 World Cup it is bitterly disappointing for all not to have been granted it, this is clear for all to see. But in the next ten years the nation plays host to all the events outlined above, the prospect of these is as exciting as the finals themselves so all is not lost. The absence of a World Cup in England allows for organisers of these competitions to do their job without the over powering and enveloping shadow of World Cup football around them. It may be a blessing in disguise as we see the nation come together to support our men and women competing on a national stage in sports that get the minority of column inches in our own backyard.

Which batsman is next in line for an England call-up?

During England’s final warm-up game in Hobart we saw England’s second string bowling attack shine.

The convincing 10 wicket victory was orchestrated by the four-man bowling attack of Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad, Tim Bresnan and Monty Panesar.

It is fair to say that England have strength in depth, it would seem, when it comes to their bowling options whilst Down Under. Can the same be said for their batting should the much maligned Alistair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood fail?

With Eion Morgan included as the only specialist batsman in the 16-man squad, who would be next in line for inclusion?

The England Performance Squad will be based in Australia until the 16th Decemeber and one can only imagine that a batsman would be taken from that squad.
By consistent performance, should it be a middle order batsman who needs replacing, James Hildreth should be next in line for an England call up.

Doubts remain over Alistair Cooks form and technique at the top of the England batting order. Should the England selectors decide to take action then Yorkshire's Adam Lyth would be his replacement one would think after injury to Hampshire's Adam Carberry ruled him out of the tour.

England Performance Squad average spreadsheet
BBC Sport - Cricket - Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett in England Ashes squad
ECB - England Performance Squad News
Guardian Data Store - County Championship batting and bowling averages – what's your verdict?

Preston Hockey Club chasing promotion

While Preston North End find themselves rock bottom of the Championship high flyers Preston Hockey Club have their sights firmly set upon promotion. Top of the Northern Premier Division by two points Preston have a real chance of playing National Hockey next season.

I took the oppurtunity to interview first team captain Richard Sullivan following their hard fought 3-2 victory away to Hull. He talked me through the match.

News in a map. Who'd have thought it?

In the 21st Century we find ourselves in an age of media convergence. Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one product with the advantage of them all, also known as the black box.

An example of this can be shown in Google maps. Here, I have taken the written media i.e. stories from the 14th October edition of the Lancashire Evening post and placed it into a map. Images are used as the place markers and links to the stories themselves from the LEP website can be found, along with related links to the stories from other media outlets.

View Lancashire Evening Post stories from 14th October '10 in a larger map

The curtain finally falls. . . . . . . . .

The curtain has finally fallen on the pantomime that has been the Audley Harrison show.

After landing just one punch in the 7 minutes 53 seconds that made up the highly anticipated fight with old foe David Haye the 'A-Force' went out courageously at least, finishing on his feet.

Never has and hope never again will an Olympic gold medalist make his way to the ring to fight for his first professional world crown to chants of 'who are ya?'. This is a simple a reflection of the disappointment the nation feels with regard to Harrison. Promising so much ten years ago and yet delivering so little.

He left the ring to chants of 'you're shit and you know you are' and although humorous at the time one cannot help but feel sorry for Audley who has become a victim of his own press and hype and the nations need for a replacement to Lennox Lewis.

Billed by Jimmy Lennon Jr. as 'the always dangerous' Audley Harrison he showed no signs of this danger and power we have all been led to believe he carries in the left hand of his.

There is no doubt in my mind that Harrison and his camp grossly under estimated David's boxing capabilities. The tactics that they intended to implement relied solely on the gung-ho style that we saw David use in his fight with Carl Thompson. The expectation clearly was to drag Haye in and pick him off with counter-punches.

Haye is not stupid and nor is Adam Booth. To expect the two of them to create a strategy that would play into the hands of the 'A-Force' camp is ludicrous, and they were made to pay.

The first two rounds of last nights contest were without doubt the most encouraging I, as a fan of David, have seen. His foot work was superb and his head and upper body movement are the quickest in the division today. His attributes in defence are reflected in the stats, Harrison landed one stiff jab to the head of 'The Hayemaker'. But rather than follow this up with a left hand he stepped away, keeping the champion at arms length.

Unfortunately it was the Harrison that we have seen for the past 10 years, a boxer who as a professional as shown no real signs of improvement. As soon as Haye went on the front foot the Harrison look of a deer in the headlights was apparent, dropping his hands and leading people to believe nothing had changed.

Now it is not for me to plot the reasons for the downfall of such a promising amateur fighter but it may simply be the case that 30 years of age is just too old to join the professional ranks. Like Haye is now perhaps you need to be the finished article. It is rare that a boxer will improve during his thirties, Wladimir Klitschko being the obvious exception.

In his programme notes Haye said that: "I'm going to prolong it for three or four rounds, make him miss, make him pay, and basically make it look so-one-sided that the result is never in doubt".

Sometimes peoples perception of the line between arrogance and self-confidence becomes clouded. Many have accused Haye of arrogance but the quote from the programme is just an example of the fact that Haye knows how good he is. He delivered exactly what he said he would. He demolished Audley Harrison.

As I left the arena in their drunken stupor people cried out for refunds. A reporter for BoxRec news branded last nights preceedings as the most disappointed night in British boxing. But seriously, what did these people expect? Rocky III, Balboa vs. Creed? This was never going to be a fight for the ages, hardly Benn vs. Eubank, much like Haye Maccarenelli ended up being rather a damp squib.

The fact of the matter is those outside the boxing fraternity grossly under estimate Haye's capabilities, just like Harrison's camp did, and his potential. Should fights with the Klitschko brothers happen come 2011 it will be Haye's opportunity to prove the many, many doubters, or ignorant boxing fans, just how good he believes he is. Barry McGuigan hit the nail on the head while in the Sky studio, David is improving with every fight at heavyweight. Therefore no reason exists why he cannot emulate Lennox Lewis and become the undisputed heavyweight champion, something Harrison was expected to do himself.

As for Harrison, in his post fight interview you can see that the sparkle that once could be found in his eyes has gone and with it perhaps his drive and his ability to pick himself off the floor after such a devastating loss, like so many times before.

Perhaps Harrison just does not have it in him, whether it be psychological weakness or inferior boxing ability, to become a world heavy weight champion. Whether it was destiny or delusion that led Audley to believe he would conquer the world is a question we cannot answer. . . . . . . .

'Best of Enemies' photos

'Best of Enemies' weigh-in

1 day remaining. . . . .

As I entered the Lowry today I found myself in the whirlwind of world title fever, surrounded by SkySports News outlets and those of the written press. I stood in the foyer as I found myself killing time before it all kicked off at around 2 o'clock.

I turned around, phone in hand, to see boxing pundit Steve Bunce walking in my direction. White shirted with a cravat-like scarf wrapped around his neck I took the opportunity to pick his brain on the result.

"Ask me once I've seen the sort of condition both fighters are in". I don't think he meant that literally but I certainly did and would definitely make an attempt to find him once the weigh-in was over.

The weigh-in for the under card fights was pretty elementary stuff. However, Gary Davies who will challenge Stuart Hall for the British Bantamweight title failed to make weight at the first attempt. This came as no surprise to me as Davies was late in taking to the scales, no doubt using as much time as possible in order to cut to the weight.

This and the George Groves fight, along with the main event of course are the only two fights that have any great significance and appeal to them.

George Groves' fight with Kenny Anderson has great significance with regard to a possible domestic dust-up with James DeGale. The winner of which will not only take home the Commonwealth super-middleweight title but will also be next in line for a shot at the British title. In effect the winner of tomorrow evening's bout will go on to face the winner of Paul Smith versus James DeGale which takes place on the 11th December at the Liverpool Echo Arena.

Before both fighters took the scales Anderson showed a real lack of respect for Groves, the the challenger refusing to shake the champions hand. Groves made weight comfortable, however Anderson had to strip bare in order to get inside the 12 stone limit.

What followed was pure petulance on the part of Anderson who has done very little in winning over a crowd who were already in favour of 'The Saint' Groves, knocking Groves' hat off his head as the two squared up for photos. Anderson then proceeded to attempt to bury his forehead into the nose of Groves. The two were torn apart only for Anderson to want more, the Scots fiery temper clearly on show for the 1,000 in attendance to see.

After a reasonable wait which saw the rest of the under card take to the scales the crowd got what they had come to see. Boos welcomed 'The A-Force' Audley Harrison, tipping the scales at 18st 1lbs and a quarter. His physique was that of a 39 year-old mab, lacking the muscle definition that won him the gold in Sydney that we are forever reminded about, he quickly covering it with his t-shirt. The 253 pounds that Harrison scaled is only two pounds lighter than his heaviest ever, that fight resulted in a loss.

The champion quickly hopped on and off the scales weighing just 15st and a quarter pound. The announcement from MC Gary Logan was met with gasps from those in the auditorium. In contrast to Harrison's physical condition Haye's is chiselled and clearly built for speed and power. Haye did the opposite of Harrison and left his shirt off clearly wanting to send a message to Audley that he is in the best shape of his whole career, not just his short one at heavyweight.

People will talk of the 42 and a half pound weight advantage that Haye is giving away but people must be reminded that he gave away far more in the Valuev fight and came out victorious.

An added sense of drama was added to the stand-off between the two fighters, quite fitting really for such a theatre, Lennox Lewis seperating the two for a photo-call that included himself.

I stuck around after to catch Buncey on the way out. I asked him the same question again. "Who will win?", without a seconds delay he said in the enthusiastic fashion that characterises Bunce "Haye".
"He's fifteen one he doesn't need to be heavy, he said it himself. For Ruiz he needed to be a bit heavy and this is closer to where he was for the other bloke (Valuev), perfect."

There is one thing that I doubt about Harrison more than anything and that is his punch resistance, I made this point to Steve.
"I watched the Ruiz fight the other night, Harrison hasn't got the punch resistance that Ruiz had, if he (Haye) clips him with a big right hand what chance has Harrison got?"
"Harrison has got a chance in the sense that he's tall, he's got a good jab and he believes he can win, he's three stone heavier."
"But it's a pawing jab," I replied inquisitively.
"Well it won't be, not if he throws a proper jab, a stiff jab but for him to do that Haye's got to fight a stupid fight. Haye will only lose this fight because he fights a stupid fight. If he fights a stupid fight he'll be in trouble, by missing his punches, by leaving himself exposed. If you let Audley pick you off he'll do it all day long."

"When he fought Valuev, and I'll leave you with this, when he fough Valuev he told us he was gonna' go in there and it was going to be one minute, I'm gonna kill him. It worked 'cos Valuev beleived everything he read and everything he was told. He jabbed and ran and Valuev could work him out. I think Haye'll do the same again, he'll use is brain".

Buncey, god love him, is absolutely right, the only way Haye can lose this fight is if he fights a stupid fight. It's Haye's to lose

I for one can't wait until tomorrow. Hope you all manage to find a place to watch the fight, whether it be at in comfort of your own home, a pub or at the venue itself. "

Weigh-in photos

David Haye vs. Audley Harrison

Two days remaining. . . .

The weigh-in is tomorrow at the Lowry, Salford Quays and I hope to bring you some pictures and my pre-fight musings after seeing the two fighters conditions in flesh.

Now if the fight come Saturday night is anywhere near as good as the trash talking then we are in for real fireworks. Here are two of my favourite quotes from the many months of build up that we have experienced.
"You're going to get destroyed, you're going to get violated in that ring, you'll never be able to set foot in England again."Hayemaker
"When I came out of the Olympics they called me Muhammad Ali, then four years later I'm 'Fraudley'. But after this fight I'll be extraordinary." A-Force

No one in the British press I beleive has ever used the words Audley Harrison and Muhammad Ali in the same sentence, that I am pretty sure of. The same cannot be said for David Haye where during the John Ruiz fight Ian Darke made the point that The Hayemaker is probably the quickest since Ali. And in boxing speed kills.

I took the time last night to re-watch the John Ruiz fight, a fight I attended. It is accepted that throughout the fight that Ruiz was ponderous and plodded slowly forward throughout. He did however show incredible punch resistance. The shots that Haye landed without doubt would have sent many of the heavyweights at the top to the canvas.

Now the self-proclaim A-Force is no John Ruiz that is for sure. He was felled like a giant redwood by Michael Sprott, and granted the boot (or glove) was on the other foot (or hand) in Harrison's last fight but Harrison without doubt is going to have to take a punch in order to through one and he simply isn't capable of this.

Harrison has made a point of Haye being 'chinny'. This is nothing more than an attempt at psychology by the challenger in order to divert attention from his own fragile abilities to take a punch.

Many will poke laughter at Audley Harrison but there is one thing that can be said for him and that is that he is a master of self promotion. Many said that about Napoleon but even the A-Force wins that contest. Without Harrison this fight would be the damp squib that many predict but Audley's stories, fabrications, inner will and that fact that he beleives his own press has hyped the contest up to a level many didn't think capable.

Unfortunately for Harrison it is more hype than expectation when it comes to prospect of victory for the 2000 Sydney Olympic champion.

Looking through Harrison's record it is littered with journeymen and no-marks. It wasn't until his 16th fight that he fought a fighter of any real pedigree in the heavyweight division, Julius Long for the World Federation Heavyweight title. You compare this to Haye at cruiserweight who fought former WBO champion Carl Thompson, who had two victories against Chris Eubank on his resume. Granted, David lost but it was in this fight that I saw what I thought could be a champion.

Without the loss I don't believe Haye would be the boxer we see today. He admits himself that before than he believed that he could trade with anyone. It was a wake-up call for the young man.

Tomasz Bonin was Harrison's next opponent, ranked 8th by the WBC at the time. A TKO was the result for Audley in the ninth. Haye deposed of him in one. A fight that acted as a tune-up for his attempt to gather the WBC & WBA cruiser weight belts from Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck in Paris.

Two fights later it all started to unravel for Harrison as Haye become the undisputed cruiser champion, no matter how much the Olympic champion denies these claims.

Now 3 years later their paths meet having trodden very different tracks along the way. Will Harrison fulfill his 'destiny' or will it just be another empty promise from one the most promising and biggest wastes of talent in British heavyweight boxing? Saturday is not 'The Best of Enemies' but Judgement Day for the A-Force.